Moscow Reports Effective Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the nation's senior general.

"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov reported to the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The low-flying prototype missile, first announced in the past decade, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to bypass defensive systems.

International analysts have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president stated that a "last accomplished trial" of the missile had been held in last year, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had partial success since 2016, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The general said the missile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the test on 21 October.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were confirmed as meeting requirements, according to a national news agency.

"Therefore, it demonstrated superior performance to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet stated the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of intense debate in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in the past decade.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank observed the same year, Moscow confronts significant challenges in achieving operational status.

"Its induction into the country's arsenal potentially relies not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the atomic power system," analysts wrote.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and an incident leading to multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the analysis states the weapon has a operational radius of between a substantial span, enabling "the weapon to be based throughout the nation and still be able to target goals in the continental US."

The same journal also notes the projectile can fly as low as 164 to 328 feet above ground, rendering it challenging for air defences to stop.

The projectile, referred to as a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is believed to be propelled by a reactor system, which is intended to engage after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the air.

An examination by a news agency recently pinpointed a location a considerable distance north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the missile.

Employing satellite imagery from the recent past, an analyst told the agency he had observed nine horizontal launch pads in development at the facility.

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